(NNPA)—African-Americans are overrepresented among the poor, but it would be a mistake to conclude that all African Americans are poor. We are all aware of the seven, eight, and even nine-figure incomes of luminaries such as Oprah Winfrey, Beyoncé and Jay Z, hundreds of athletes, tech leaders, and many others who are “living large.”
It is equally important, though, to acknowledge those African-Americans who, while not wealthy, are earning more than simple survival wages.
While African American families have a median income of about $33,000, White families have a median income of about $54,000. With median wealth of $113,000, the average White family has wealth at 20 times that of African-Americans.
Several historical and contemporary factors contribute to these income and earnings gaps. African Americans have less education, higher unemployment, less intergenerational wealth, less access to employment opportunities, among other things. While there has been significant progress since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, from an economic perspective, some gaps are widening instead of narrowing.
Still, it is important to note that more than a third of all African-Americans have incomes of more than $50,000 a year. These incomes would be considered, by some sources, middle class incomes. Fewer African-Americans than Whites have these relatively comfortable incomes, but too many conversations about race and economic status proceed as if all African-Americans are either poor or, as in the case of our superstars, extremely wealthy. Those African-Americans who have comfortable incomes are often overlooked from the policy perspective. And too many are simply silent.
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